Method for forming gas-bags or other fluid-retaining envelops for airships or other purposes.



T. SLOPER. METHOD FOR FORMING GAS BAGS OR OTHER FLUID RETMNING ENV'ELOPSFOR AIRSHIPS 0R OYHER PURPOSES.

APPLICATION HLED NOV. 3. l9l4.

I Patented May 20, 1915.

. E ILQUQQL v R a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

messag T. SLOPER. R OTHER FLUID RETAINING ENVELOIPS FOR AIRSHIPS OROTHER PURPOSES.

METHOD FOR FORMING GAS BAGS 0 APPLICATION FILED NOV 3,1914. I LILQQ QQILo Patented May 25, 191a.

3 SHEETS5HEET Z- T. S LOPER. METHOD FOR FORMING GAS BAGS 0R OTHER'FLUIDRETAINING ENVELOPS FOR AIRSHIPS OR OTHER PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. 1914.

1 EQLQ QQIL o Patented May 25, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

my "1h E j E E described-could be used for but the main object of the anans Panama onnron THOMAS SLOPER, OF DEVIZES, ENGLAND.

mncrironron FORMING GAS-BAGS on OTHER FLUID-RETAINING ENVELOPS FOEAIRSHIPS OR OTHER runrosns.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ma as, rare.

Application filed November 8, 1914. Serial No. 870,048.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS SLOPER, a subject of the King of England,residing at Devizes, in Wilt-shire, England, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Methods for Forming Gas-Bags or other Fluid-Retaining'Envelops for Air: ships or other Purposes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to gas-bags or otherfluid-retaining envelops for ail-ships or other purposes and hasparticular reference to the production of the fabric of such gas-bags orenvelops. The fabric proposed to beused for this purpose is built up oflayers of parallel threads without any interweaving, the threads in eachlayer merely lying side by side and the thickness of the layer beingthat ofthe thickness of the individual threads. The threads in one layerare laid transversely to those in the other, the angle atwhich they arelaid being varied according to circumstances, for example, the threadsin one layer may be disposed at right-angles to those in the other, or.they may be at any .angle other than parallel with the same. The threadsso laid are embedded j in india-rubber, gum or the like, and maythemselvesbe treated with rubber if desired. The rubbered or otherthreads may be laid together in one layer and covered with a thin sheetof rubber, the next layer of threads being laid on the thin sheet ofrubber, and the whole vulcanized to gether with or without a furthercoating of rubber or other layers of threads. The material so fardescribed is well-known and in tiony It willbe appreciated thatthe'fabric just gas-bags and other. purposes, present invention is toapply this fabric'to he manufacture of gas-bags in'such a maner that thebag can be made to take the required shape without overlapping of thethreads or folding of the material'atparts which are constricted, suchas the tapered ends of a cigar-shaped gas-bag. These'folds only increasethe weight of the whole envelop, which it'is required to keep as low andthe material contained in these folds is not required for the purposeoftstrength.

itself forms no part of the present inven-' According to the presentinvention, therefore, there is provided for gas-bags or otherfluid-retaining envelops a fabric of the kind described, wherein theconstriction of a given layer in a direction transverse to the lay ofits threads is obtained without overlapping of the threads by droppingout threads at the part to be constricted and quired, or fewer threadscould be dropped out at each step in the direction of the lay of thethreads.

Various methods may be employed for dropping out the threads, forexample, the threads which are to be dropped out may be merely shorterthan those which are to continue further in the direction of lay, or aplurality of threads may be connected endto-end at the point where thedrop out is to occur to a single or smaller number of threads, or to anequal number of threads which occupy less space than those to which theyare connected.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1 shows one layer of a piece offabric with threads dropped out according to one method of carrying outthis invention; Fig. 2 shows two lavers of a piece of fabric withthreads dropped out according to the same with the threads in the layersdifferently arranged from those shown in Fig. 1; Fi 3' shows a pieceof'fabrie with the threads "dropped out'according to another method ofcarrying out this invention, and Fi 4: showsanother arrangement of thethreads in which threads are dropped out in one. layer only.

The same letters indicate the same part: throughout the drawings. I I

The layer of fabric shown in Fig. 1 comprises a series of threads A laidside by side, individual threads being dropped out at inv tervals asshown at A}, A A, A and so method of carrying out this invention, but

. drops out at on. It will be noted that the thread A which lies at theedge of the fabric is continuous right through, whereas the next threadA, and the third thread drops out at A which is set some way back fromThe fourth thread is again continued right through the fabric, the fifththread being dropped out at A which is at a point intermediate betweenthe pointsA and A and the sixth .thread is dropped out at A being setback about the same distance from A as the point A is forward of A andthe seventh thread "is again continued right a through the whole length.The object of this arrangement is to prevent unnecessary weakening ofthe fabric by dropping out too many threads in close proximity one tothe other.

The layer shown in Fig. 1 may be covered with another layer having thethreads disposed transversely to those of the first layer, a sheet ofrubber conveniently being interposed between the two layers, and thewhole can. be vulcanized together each thread having been previouslyimpregnated with rubber according to the well-known method of buildingup rubbered cord fabrics.

In Fig. 2 one arrangement of two layers of this fabric is shown. Thefigure shows the conica end .portion of a cigar-shaped gas-bag, and onelayer B is placed with the threads in the form 'of a wide-pitchlefthanded spiral and the other layer B with the threads in a wide-pitchright-handed spiral, so that the two lots of threads crossapprogiiinately at right-angles to each other; a thin sheet of rubber Cis indicated between the two layers.

It will be appreciated that the layers B and B are built up by droppingout the threads in the manner shown in Fig. 1, but the threads insteadof being laid quite straight are spiral, as already stated.

Instead of laying the threads in the form of two spirals, one layer'maybe laid straight as indicated at D, Fig. 4, and then the outer layer Dmay be wound in .the form of a close spiral aroundthe layer D, but insuch case the layer D will have no threads dropped out from it, as toconstrict it at the tapered end it is clearly only necessary to reducethe diameter of the spirals.

In Fig. 3 a method is shownof dropping out threads according to whichtwo double threads, E E are connected to a single double thread E bymeans of a hook F. The hook has one claw at one end and two claws at theother end, so that a thread E can be looped around one claw and carriedback, a thread E looped around its companion claw and carried back, andthen a thread E looped around a claw at the opposite end of the hook andcarried back, so that what is practically four threads, E, E give placeto two threads v This is a means of dropactual disconnecare connectedend ping outthreads without tion as the threads E, E

the hook, and in some cases this means of dropping out may be preferredto that already described. The arrangement of the threads for the layermay be the same as that already described with reference to Figs. 1, 2and 4, except that the hooks take the places. of the gaps which occurin'those constructions at the immediate points where the dropping out ofthe threads occurs. Obviously instead of usinghooks, the threads 'E,.Eand E might be hitched direct together by any convenient form of knot orinterlooping, and the hook could thus be dispensed with. Again, thethreads Whether engaged with a hook or hitched together,-need not bedouble threads, thus two threads or one double thread could be connectedto a single thread, or instead of reducing the number of threadsconnected end to end, the same number of threads could be used but of asmaller size so that they occupy a smallerspace and permit of thedesired constriction of the fabric.

Whatever arrangement of threads and whatever means of dropping thethreads out is employed, the object of the present in-.

vention is to obtain an arrangement whereby constrictions in the layercan be produced without overlapping of the threadswith its increase ofweight and unnecessary increase of strength at such oints, and thedropping out of the threads as described enables those of each layer tobe always kept within the thickness of the layer, which thickness isthat of the individual threads. Obviously any number of layers may beemployed according to the purpose for which the fluid-retaining envelopis to be used but all such combinations of layers and dispositions ofthe threads therein would fall within the scope of this invention,provided one or more of the layers has the threads dropped out at theparts which are to be constricted without folding or overlapping.

This invention is not restricted to envelops which completely inclosethe fluid, but canbe applied to those through which fluid flows, forinstance'it could be applied to conical or tapering hose-pipe.

Although threads have been referred to throughout this specification, itwill be understood' that this term is used generically and would'includecord, the size of the material used varying according to the purpose towhich it is -:to be applied and the part of the bag or envelop in whichit is employed.

What-I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. A method for forming a fabric for fluid-retaining envelopsconsisting in build ing up the layer of fabric by laying threadsside-by-side without any interweaving, and dropping out threads atpoints where the fabric is to be constricted in a direction transverseto the lay of the threads, the points of dropping out the threads beingso chosen in the transverse direction that a Wide break is not formedand so selected in the direction of lay as to give the required shapetothe constriction when the remaining threads are drawn together,substantially as set forth.

A method for forming a fabric for fiuidretaining envelops consisting inbuilding up the layer of fabric by laying threads side-by-side withoutany interweaving, and dropping out threads at pointswhere the fabric isto be constricted in a direction transverse to the lay of the threads,such dropping out being effected by connecting a plurality of threads toa smaller number of threads, the points for dropping out the threadsbeing sochosen in the transverse direction that a wide break is notformed and so selected in the direction of lay'as to give therequiredshape to the constriction when the remaining threads are drawn .to-

gether, substantially as set forth.

3. A method for forming a fabric for fluid-retaining envelops consistingin build- -ing up-the layer of fabric by laying threads side-by-sidewithout any interweaving, and

- dropping out threads at points where the fabric is to be' constrictedin a direction transverse to the lay of the threads, such dropping outbeing effected by connecting a plurality of threads to a smaller numberof threads, hooks being employed for connecting the larger number ofthreads to the smaller number, and the points for droppingout thethreads being so chosen in the transverse direction that a wide break isnot formed and so selected in the direction of lay as to give therequired shape to the constriction when the remaining threads are drawntogether, substantially as set forth.

4. A method for forming a cigar-shaped fluid-retaining envelopconsisting in building up the envelop fabric with one layer of threadsplaced side-by-side without any interweaving, the said threads beinglaid in the form of a wide-pitch spiral around the longitudinal axis ofthe envelop, some of the threads being dropped out at the tapered end sothat the fabric canthere be constricted to form the taper Withoutoverlapping of the threads, the points for droppin'g out the threadsbeing so chosen in the transverse direction of the lay of the. threadsthat a wide break is not formed and so selectedin the direction of layas'to give the required taper when the remaining threads are drawntogether, a second layer of threads being placed over the first, thedirection of lay in thissecond layer being transverse to that of thefirst layer, substantially as set forth.

5. A method for forming a cigar-shaped fluidretaining envelop consistingin building up the envelop fabric with onelayer of threads placedside-by-side without any interweaving, the said threads being laid insuch direction that they advance from the middle to the end of theenvelop, some; of the threads being dropped out at the tapered end sothat the fabric can there be constricted to form the taper withoutoverlapping of the threads, the points for dropping out the threadsbeing so chosen in the transverse direction of the lay of the threadthat a wide break is not formed and so selected .in the direction of layas to give the required taper when the remaining threads are drawntogether, a second layer of threads being placed over the first;in theform of a, continuous winding the lay of whose threads is approximatelyat righth angles to the longitudinal axis of'the envelop, substantiallyasset forth.

In testimony whereof I have signedmy name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

rnonas stores. Witnesses:

ALFRED Nn'r'rine,

O. J. NORTH.

